Not claiming to have any specific knowledge of the litigation strategy for either side, but it seems as if there are a lot of similarities between these lawsuits and the tort claims brought by smokers against the tobacco companies for concealing the risks associated with smoking. Those cases were tough to prove and, unlike the NFL players, smokers did not have a collective bargaining agreement with Big Tobacco that set the terms and condition of their employment.with defendant

There are of course two sides to this story. For the NFL's position on these lawsuits, atttached is a link to the motion by the NFL to dismiss the lawsuit filed by former Atlanta Falcon Ray Easterling. Mr. Easterling took his life several weeks ago.

The CBA argument isn't a factual defense. If the Motion is correct on the 12(b)(6) grounds of simply failing to allege required elements in an Amended Complaint, that's the attorney's failure and doesn't speak to the merits. I' d be more interested in a SJ motion with attachments if you see one.